Philadelphia to pay $4.15M to man over wrongful conviction

submitted by Nemacolin from apnews.com

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[–]Nemacolin[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Wow.

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The city of Philadelphia has agreed to pay $4.15 million to a man who spent 24 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit, one of the largest such payouts in city history.

City officials agreed last week to settle a civil rights lawsuit filed by Shaurn Thomas, who was 20 when he was convicted of second-degree murder in a 1990 robbery and killing. He received an automatic life sentence.

Thomas, now 45, has said he was in custody on the day of the killing for an unrelated crime the attempted theft of a motorcycle.

His murder conviction was vacated in 2017, and the district attorney’s office opted not to retry the case.

[–]Undiscovered 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

172k a year to sit in prison for 24 years lol. Only he knows if it was worth it I guess.

Of course he is saying:

It’s a happy moment for me. It’s been a long hard fight,” Thomas, speaking of the settlement, told KYW-AM. Thomas told The Philadelphia Inquirer that he’s not bitter, adding: “This is just life, and this is the hand I was dealt.”

[–]Nemacolin[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Some states have fairly standard payouts. Texas is one.

I do not recall the numbers, but basically they call you in and say, OK if you do not get lawyers involved we will give you $XXX dollars per year in confinement. You also get lifetime free tuition at the state universities. You also get put on the same health plan as the state police. The cash will be paid out over twenty-five years. If you are convicted of a felony, the deal is off. Sign here.

Texas had learned that one massive payout was often wasted, so they went to annual payments.

Any amount of cash seems inadequate, but what else can be done?

==eta==

Apparently $80K per year. I found an article.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2017/10/23/rebuilding-after-prison-texas-has-spent-109-million-on-the-wrongfully-convicted/